'This will really benefit the Northwest'; Thousands to attend Hyde Park Santa Claus Parade
Thousands of Londoners lined Gainsborough road Saturday morning to see the man in red.
The second of the three big holiday parades in the city benefited from perfect weather as local community and service clubs made it one of the largest in the event’s history.
"We've got over 60 floats this year," says Matthew Koopman, of Gateway Church and part of the organizing committee.
Santa waves to the kids during the 2022 Hyde Park Santa Claus Parade on Nov. 26, 2022 (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London)"We're so excited for this. We have lots of music, lots of fun, and lots of dancing."
Dignitaries also took part with local politicians including Josh Morgan who was attending this parade as a councillor for many years before becoming mayor.
"This is my home parade," says Morgan.
"This is just down the street from my house and that the Hyde Park parade is a great community parade. It has many organizations, service clubs and just regular members of the community, many that are in need. There's the (Northwest London) Resource Center (NLRC) and others who could always use support."
Volunteers pushed shopping carts along the route collecting non-perishable goods for the NLRC.
Volunteers unload food collected during the 2022 Hyde Park Santa Claus Parade on Nov. 26, 2022 (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London)"It’s great to work with the Lions Club as well as the Hyde Park BIA to support the community," says Amani Radhaa, executive director at NLRC.
"Non- perishable items collected actually sustains our emergency food cupboard after six months. It's very much needed to support the Northwest Community and we're seeing the need continues to rise for families accessing their emergency food cupboard."
The event raises money for several organizations, and collects thousands of pounds of food.
"Last year we made over $20,000, and we also collected 6,000 pound of food last year, and we are hoping to surpass 10,000 pounds this year," says Koopman.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.